Textile fabric and method of manufacturing the same



Gait "53,1925. I 1.5s7,39s-

. C. BALAY TEXTILE FABRIC AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME FiledOct. 51. 1922 Patented 0st. 13, 1925.

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CONSTANT BALAY, ()F ST. ETIENNEFRANCE.

Application-filed October .31, 1922.

T0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CONSTANT BALAY, a citizen of France, and residing atSt. Etienne, Loire, 5 Avenue de la Ptepublique, France, have invented anImproved Textile Fabric and :dethod of hlannfacturing the flame, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The-object of the present invention is a new textile fabric, especiallyuseful for upholstering furniture and enabling the most varieddecorative effects to be obtained at very low prices.

The invention comprises also the method of manufacture of this fabric.It is obtained by combining with a warp formedof strips of strong papera woof of binding threads which constitutes with the paper bands astrong support upon which any figuring effects that may be desired canbe obtained, whether by means of woof floats formed by the weavingshuttle and at least one other shuttle, or by means of warp floatsformed of threads taking the same part in the weave as the strips. Thefloats may be made of any textile material and may completely cover thesupport so that it does not itself take part in the decorative effect.

Attempts have already been made to obtain decorative effects in fabricsby combining, by the aid of any suitable woof threads, threads oftwisted paper; but this gives a coarse fabric of very peculiarappearance, which makes ittotally different both to the sight and touchfrom ordinary fabrics.

By using strips of cellophane or similar material giving a lustre effectand capable of taking the mostvaried tints, certain deco rative effectshave been obtained; but these were limited by the fact that thestrips ofcellophane stretched on the loom did not themselves enable greatvariation of decorative effect to be obtained; and, moreover, in view ofthe price of this material, it was necessary to utilize it as a part ofthedecorative effect, that is to say, to let it appear, or only to useit in strips on one part of the fabric, and not merely employ it to forma base to receive floats, as above described, which are one of theconstitutent elements of the new fabric which forms the object of thepresent invention.

In the manufacture of this new fabric, a warp formed of strips of paperabout 2 mm. broad and employed flat, and not in the Serial No. 598,192.

form of twisted threads, forms the basis of the fabric. These strips cutin any desired manner from a sheet of strong paper are placed flat uponthe loom and so constitute the warp of the fabric. Between each twostrips of paper are placed three threads of any textilefibre, forexample, cotton, which serve to supportthe woof float. The paper warpsthus disposed constitute the basis of the tissue and upon them, ifdesired, figured effects are obtainedby suitable arrangement ofinterwoven threads formed from warpor woof floats, as explained below.

arp floats are obtained by placing on the loom above the paper stripsslivers of the textile fibre used, for instance, artificial silk. Thusthese textile fibres form a warp superposed on the paper strips andfollowing exactly the same course as the paper strips. Vi oof floats areobtained by means of shuttles having the usual movement of woof shuttlesand producing the design of the fabric according to the combinations ofthe 100111 by passing above or below the combined warp elements formedbythestrips of paper and the warp float which they carry.

It is further to be noted that therezinaybo floats on both faces of thepaper strip, a sliver of textile fibre identical with that which givesthe upper float being placed beneath each strip and two shuttles beingused instead of one for the woof floats. In this fashion, the paper baseis entirely hidden by the various floats.

It is then to be noted that in the method of manufacture in question thesupport or base ofthe fabric upon which the float and figured effectsare to be formed from warp and woof is constituted solely by the warp ofstrips of paper. Hitherto the support has always been made by anassemblage of warp and woof threads interwoven in a suitable fashion toobtain a stouter or thinner weave, according to the thickness andfeeltof fabric desired. This advantage is due to the fact that thisstrip of paper of 2 mm. width forms by itself a supporting element ofsuitable strength and substance qualities which cannot be possessed bytextile fibres obtained by spinning, which are flexible in alldirections.

For the better understanding of the invention, the accompanying drawingsshow in,

Figures 1 and 2 a section and plan respectively showing the arrangementof the ele- LA u ments of the fabric in the simplest case where thefabric has only one woof float formed by one of the woof elements and in4 Figures 8 and 4 section and plan respectively of a fabric in which thepaper is wholly covered above and below by warp and woof floats.

In Fi ures 1 and 2 the warp consists of strips or paper l of about 2 mm.width. Between each two strips are placed threads 2 which serve to bindthe woof. The woof threats 3 and l produce the woof float effects uponthe base formed of the warp 1.

In Figures 3 and lis seen the method by which a fabric is made upon abase of paper strips 1 which are entirely covered on both faces by warpand woof floats. The warp floats 5 and 6 placed above and below thestrips 1 follow the strips throughout the length of the fabric. The twowoof elements which form the floats and a pass above or below thestrips, maybe required by the design. It is clear from these figuresthat the basis of the fabric consists solely of strips of papr withoutwarp threads of any kind.

It is to be noted that the use of flat paper strips gives the fabric anappearance comparable with that of tapestry. For the woof elementsshould be spaced at the same distance as the warp elements to give agood fabric. Hence woof elements of about 2 mm. width are employed andthe whole surface of the fabric is divided into small squaresoofthissize. It is then clear that the number of warp elements and of woofelements per square metre is but small. This much reduces the complexityof the machines ordinarily employed and enables the speed of manufactureto be vastly increased.

Further, it is possible to employ very thick textile fabrics to form thewoof floats. Consequently, they may be made from slivers of textiledbris of short length which ordinarily cannot be employed because theygive much too thick a fabric. Thus, it is possible to employ as woofelements slivers of cotton, of artificial spun silk and even ofartificial spun silk waste, which hitherto could not be used in thissort of fabric. It is to be noted that the fabric obtained will not beof very great thickness because the flat strip of paper being very thin(about /5th of a millimetre) the hickness of the fabric will hardlyexceed the thiclc ness of the woof fibre.

It is obvious that any of the processes nowadays in use for obtainingdecorative effects may be employed in making fabrics according to thisinvention, as, for instance, the Jacquard mechanism. Further, the

almost infinite variety of combinations of different textile fibres suchas artificial silk, cotton, and so forth, with strips of coloured paper,glac paper, glossy or matte paper, and so on, enables the most varieddecorative effects to be obtained. It is also possible by this method toobtain a specially supple fabric by dipping in suitable baths, or byemploying special papers, for example, glycerined papers.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is:

l. A decorative fabric, comprising, in com-- bination, a fabric baseformed of paper strips placed flat and forming warp members, decorativeelements supported on the base, and tying threads fastening thedecorative elements on the paper strips.

2. A decorative fabric, comprising, in combination, a fabric base formedof paper strips place-d flat and forming warp members, decorativetextile fibers forming weft members and constitutng floats carried bythe fabric base of paper strips.

3. A decorative fabric, comprising, in combination, a fabric base formedof paper strips placed flat and forming warp members, decorative textilefibers, tying threads, the textile fibers forming weft elements and alsowarp elements, the last said warp ele ments resting on the paper stripsthroughout the length of the strips and being fastened thereto by theweft elements.

i. A decorative fabric, comprising, in combination, a fabric base formedof paper strips placed flat and forming warp embers, decorative textilefiber elements resting on the fabric base, weft elements, and tyingthreads forming warp members positioned between the paper strips andconnecting the weft elements to the paper strips.

5. A decorative fabric comprising, in combination, a fabric base formedof paper strips placed flat as warp members, warp floats on the paperwarp members, woof members, the warp floats being connected to the paperstrips at each intersection with a woof member.

6. A decorative fabric, comprising, in combination, a fabric base formedof paper strips placed flat as warp members, warp and woof floats andwarp tying threads, the warp floats extending for their entire length onthe paper strips and being held to the strips by the woof floats, thewoof floats being held in place by the warp tying threads.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CONSTANT BALAY. [1,. s]

